Engine, system and method of providing application and analytic services across diverse operating platforms

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing a media engagement gateway (MEG) for providing application and analytic services across diverse operating platforms is disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/477,649, filed Sep. 4, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,747,619, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/873,667,filed Sep. 4, 2013, which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the use of a media engagement gateway(MEG), and, more particularly, to an engine, system and method ofproviding application and analytic services across diverse operatingplatforms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The number of unique operating systems, device types, and communicationpathways accessible through an internet or wireless connection hascontinued to grow and presents to advertisers and other distributors ofinformation the difficult task of continually updating software andcomputer based interfaces to maintain connectivity with the everchanging landscape of consumer devices. This vigilance is time consumingand costly and delays the ability of a potential advertiser, forexample, to distribute information. Thus, there exists a need for anengine, method, and system of engagement with various devices orplatforms that enables both unsophisticated and sophisticated appproducers to configure, deploy, and in real-time record the results of amultitude of apps to consumers across target app devices.

SUMMARY

The present invention includes at least a computer-implemented engine,system and method for providing application and analytic services acrossdiverse operating platforms. It is to be understood that both theforegoing general description and the following detailed description areexemplary and explanatory, and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as discussed hereinthroughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosed embodiments. In the drawings, likenumerals represent like elements, and:

FIG. 1 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4A-H illustrate aspects of exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 5A-B illustrate aspects of exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 6A-K illustrate aspects of exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 7A-C illustrate aspects of exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 12 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 13A-B illustrate aspects of exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the presentinvention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevantfor a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating,for the purpose of clarity, many other elements found in similarapparatuses, systems, and methods. Those of ordinary skill in the artmay recognize that other elements and/or steps are desirable and/orrequired in implementing the present invention. However, because suchelements and steps are well known in the art, and because they do notfacilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussionof such elements and steps is not provided herein. The disclosure hereinis directed to all such variations and modifications to the disclosedelements and methods known to those skilled in the art.

Companies, organizations, brands, and/or individuals (individually andcollectively referred to as app producers) produce software applications(hereinafter also referred to as applications or apps) for use on or offof the Internet for both business and non-business end users/consumersfor fun and profit. App producers may be highly sophisticated and mayhave access to a bevy of resources, such as companies on the ForbesGlobal 2,000 list. App producers may also be unsophisticated, such assmall local businesses, a graphic designer, an independent/inexperiencedprogrammer, or non-profit organizations.

An app consumer who is targeted may be a highly sophisticated “earlyadapter” who can manage and appreciate the value of a wide variety ofcomplicated apps, such as a digital project manager. Alternatively, thetargeted app Consumer may be an unsophisticated “late adapter” who isnot adept at using a mobile device and who may have trouble navigatingthe Internet, such as digital project manager's grandparents.

Many apps released are not configured to work on every device and maysuffer compatibility problems. App producers thus generally need todevelop apps for multiple channels. These apps may run on nativeoperating systems, such as iOS and Android, apps that run on websites,apps that run and/or are accessed on social networks such as Facebookand Twitter, or apps that appear at specified locations inside of astore or any other place in the real world. These various apps may beenvisioned as “channels” dedicated to the foregoing functions stated inrelation to each app type, and targeting of users/consumers may occurbased on individual apps and/or based on the “channel” type of the app.Although these represent the four most common “channel” types to whichapp producers may deploy apps, it is recognized that there are and willbe alternative ways to share apps with users/consumers in addition tothose recited above.

Consumers/users who are targeted for and by apps, and who may also betargeted using classically defined media channels such as those on cableand/or TV, for example, demand that apps work very well and have a greatuser experience across the multitude of different mobile phones, tabletdevices, and desktop computers and wherever they are deployed to oraccessed from. It is currently very expensive and time consuming foreven the most sophisticated app producers to design, develop, deploy,measure, and maintain one or more Apps that need to be deployed acrossmultiple app “channels” and that work well across multiple devices/OS's.And it is likely that app producers have to design and develop multipleapps that are tailored for each channel to engage app consumers that arebeing targeted, such as across multiple channel types and/or devices.Once apps are live it is even more difficult for app producers to keeptheir inventory of apps updated and properly configured. Thus, as timepasses, some apps typically fail to work completely or may no longerwork properly for consumers/users. Even highly sophisticated appproducers discover that keeping apps up to date across multiple deviceand channel types is resource intensive and costly. There is alsocurrently no unified dashboard whereby app producers can retrievecomparative cross-channel analytics on their Apps that are deployedacross a disparate set of devices and/or channels. These problems areeven more onerous for app producers that require multiple apps targetedat multiple sets of consumers across devices and channelssimultaneously. The aforementioned problems are virtually insurmountablefor unsophisticated app producers, as they don't have the resources tobuild multiple Apps that enable them to reach consumers across multipledevices and channels. These same issues present a serious problem notonly for app producers, but also for those who want to sell programs,target advertisements, and provide ongoing Apps support to an almosthopelessly disparate, non-homogenous, diverse set of consumers usingcountless devices across a variety of channels both on and off theInternet.

Thus, the disclosure provides a media engagement gateway (hereinafterreferred to as “MEG”). MEG is an engine, method, and system ofengagement that enables both unsophisticated and sophisticated appproducers to configure, deploy, and in real-time record the results of amultitude of apps provided to app consumers across devices and channels.MEG may include an app store where app producers access pre-built apps(also collectively hereinafter referred to as “MEG Apps”), and anadministrative interface where app producers customize, deploy, measure,and manage their app inventory across devices and channels. In anexemplary embodiment, MEG Apps appear on targeted devices through alauncher and container that enables the deployment of multiple apps ontop of one page as a floating layer that works across devices andchannels. In embodiments, the container may provide a user-facingfront-end, which may be or include the launcher.

A MEG app launcher (i.e., the container front-end) may be dragged andmoved anywhere on the page of targeted devices and channels. The MEG applauncher may pass contextual information to deploy MEG Apps in anautomated and synchronized fashion based on a variety of sequencedinformation and triggers transmitted or passed to MEG by devices,consumers, and/or channels. While the aforementioned MEG launcher andMEG app container are shown as one exemplary embodiment for thedeployment of MEG Apps, it should be noted that there are other types ofMEG app containers that may enable app producers to deploy MEG Apps in avariety of ways other than the one just recited.

MEG may also provide the ability to build custom MEG Apps and containersthrough the use of a “software developer kit” (“SDK”). Such an SDK maysupport the development and addition of custom MEG Apps into an appstore and custom containers into a MEG manager. Thus is provided a“one-stop-shop” that empowers app producers to quickly and easilycontrol the flow of content and information, promotional offers, and thelines of communication with their consumers across devices and channels.MEG Apps may thereby also deliver a customizable set of user experiencesto consumers across devices and channels.

In an exemplary embodiment, a Grocery store merchant decides to utilizeMEG to convey important real-time updates and to run a diverse set ofpromotions and coupons which were formerly only available through theGrocery Store's in-store circular and via the local Newspaper. Themerchant, who is an unsophisticated app producer, may use a fewpre-built MEG Apps that are all customized and deployed in less than 10minutes to consumers across devices and channels. For instance, themerchant may choose a “Targeted Notification” MEG App to share real-timeinventory updates to target consumers by configuring the MEG App andsetting its rules within the MEG manager for the MEG App to deployautomatically across a select number of their devices and channels—inthis case, a business website, social network pages, and iOS and Androidnative apps. The merchant may also choose, as a second prebuilt “TimedSpecial” MEG App, to run a one hour special on strawberries, setting theMEG App's rules to have this MEG App only deployed to targeted consumersthat are in the store during the one hour time period during which thespecial is live. The merchant may then choose as a third “HTML” MEG Appto instantly publish a list of all the different coupons that areavailable this week across all of its targeted devices and targetedchannels for only that week. The merchant may then choose as a fourth“In-Store Targeted Notification” MEG App to alert a consumer, dependingon the consumer's location within the merchant's store, that the newdairy department is now open. The merchant may then choose a fifth“In-Store Offer” MEG App that publishes a very detailed coupon with aunique authorization code to the consumer for a Toothpaste product whenthe consumer is standing in the Toothpaste aisle. The merchant may alsoselect to point target consumers to any number of pages on their devicesand channels—in this case, a business website, social network pages, andiOS and Android apps—by using one or more instances of the “ContextualLink” MEG App to provide an automated navigation method for consumersenabling automated deployment and surfacing of content—the highest valuepages, products, or other relevant business information—to targetconsumers at exactly the right time in the right manner to increaseconversion rates for the business. In this instance, the merchant hasset MEG up to automatically surface the item that is most relevant tothe target consumer based on her shopping history, her location, and herbehaviors at the time that she is on a specific page or in-store.

In short, MEG enables the merchant to customize and deploy all of theaforementioned MEG Apps in under 10 minutes. As such, MEG is easy to useand flexible. The foregoing exemplary embodiment is an illustration ofhow MEG can create a novel and much improved experience for both appproducers and consumers. MEG provides a way to coordinate and deployinformation across all the important target devices and channels used byconsumers—not just to phones, or to desktop PCs, but all. With MEG Apps,more content and information may be published where it is useful, andless, different or no information may be published where is it notuseful to a consumer.

MEG may also provide app producers with additional assurance that MEGApps function on all target devices and all channels because MEG mayhandle the ongoing maintenance function. A simple example is, whenmobile devices get a new “software update,” MEG Apps may get updatedwithout each app producer having to solve this separately.

MEG may also provide a way for app producers to collect comparativecross-device and cross-channel statistics and feedback based upon actualretrieved data from the consumer in real time. This may form thefoundation for a successful ongoing sales and marketing strategy.

MEG may provide a way for app producers of almost any size to managecommunication with consumers in one easy to use destination. This is, inpart, because MEG enables unsophisticated app producers to, in under 10minutes and with minimal effort, configure, deploy, and in real-timemake changes and measure an almost infinitely customizable set of MEGApps that work across target devices and channels.

MEG may also be the enabler, accelerant, time, resource, and money saverfor sophisticated app producers that currently have to laboriouslybuild, deploy, manage, and measure an extensive inventory of apps thataim to effectively engage consumers across all of their target channelsand devices. MEG may thus simplify multichannel mobile engagement. MEGenables sophisticated app producers to create and deliver a variety ofmultichannel experiences in an automated and/or sequenced manner byintegrating their systems and APIs with MEG. MEG, a MEG manager, MEGApps, a MEG launcher, and containers may pass contextual information todeploy MEG Apps in an automated and synchronized fashion based on avariety of sequenced information and triggers transmitted or passed toand by and between MEG and the sophisticated app producers, and targetdevices, Target App Consumers, and/or Target App Channels

The foregoing MEG apparatus, system and method may be particularlyimplemented, by way of non-limiting example, by way of the exemplaryaspects and embodiments illustrated in the figures and descriptionherein. FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary computing system 100 for use inaccordance with herein described system and methods. Computing system100 is capable of executing software, such as an operating system (OS)and a variety of computing applications 190. The operation of exemplarycomputing system 100 is controlled primarily by computer readableinstructions, such as instructions stored in a computer readable storagemedium, such as hard disk drive (HDD) 115, optical disk (not shown) suchas a CD or DVD, solid state drive (not shown) such as a USB “thumbdrive,” or the like. Such instructions may be executed within centralprocessing unit (CPU) 110 to cause computing system 100 to performoperations. In many known computer servers, workstations, personalcomputers, and the like, CPU 110 is implemented in an integrated circuitcalled a processor.

It is appreciated that, although exemplary computing system 100 is shownto comprise a single CPU 110, such description is merely illustrative ascomputing system 100 may comprise a plurality of CPUs 110. Additionally,computing system 100 may exploit the resources of remote CPUs (notshown), for example, through communications network 170 or some otherdata communications means.

In operation, CPU 110 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions from acomputer readable storage medium such as HDD 115. Such instructions canbe included in software such as an operating system (OS), executableprograms, and the like. Information, such as computer instructions andother computer readable data, is transferred between components ofcomputing system 100 via the system's main data-transfer path. The maindata-transfer path may use a system bus architecture 105, although othercomputer architectures (not shown) can be used, such as architecturesusing serializers and deserializers and crossbar switches to communicatedata between devices over serial communication paths. System bus 105 caninclude data lines for sending data, address lines for sendingaddresses, and control lines for sending interrupts and for operatingthe system bus. Some busses provide bus arbitration that regulatesaccess to the bus by extension cards, controllers, and CPU 110. Devicesthat attach to the busses and arbitrate access to the bus are called busmasters. Bus master support also allows multiprocessor configurations ofthe busses to be created by the addition of bus master adapterscontaining processors and support chips.

Memory devices coupled to system bus 105 can include random accessmemory (RAM) 125 and read only memory (ROM) 130. Such memories includecircuitry that allows information to be stored and retrieved. ROMs 130generally contain stored data that cannot be modified. Data stored inRAM 125 can be read or changed by CPU 110 or other hardware devices.Access to RAM 125 and/or ROM 130 may be controlled by memory controller120. Memory controller 120 may provide an address translation functionthat translates virtual addresses into physical addresses asinstructions are executed. Memory controller 120 may also provide amemory protection function that isolates processes within the system andisolates system processes from user processes. Thus, a program runningin user mode can normally access only memory mapped by its own processvirtual address space; it cannot access memory within another process'virtual address space unless memory sharing between the processes hasbeen set up.

In addition, computing system 100 may contain peripheral controller 135responsible for communicating instructions using a peripheral bus fromCPU 110 to peripherals, such as printer 140, keyboard 145, and mouse150. An example of a peripheral bus is the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus.

Display 160, which is controlled by display controller 155, can be usedto display visual output and/or presentation generated by or at therequest of computing system 100. Such visual output may include text,graphics, animated graphics, and/or video, for example. Display 160 maybe implemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-based flat-paneldisplay, gas plasma-based flat-panel display, touch-panel, or the like.Display controller 155 includes electronic components required togenerate a video signal that is sent to display 160.

Further, computing system 100 may contain network adapter 165 which maybe used to couple computing system 100 to an external communicationnetwork 170, which may include or provide access to the Internet.Communications network 170 may provide user access for computing system100 with means of communicating and transferring software andinformation electronically. Additionally, communications network 170 mayprovide for distributed processing, which involves several computers andthe sharing of workloads or cooperative efforts in performing a task. Itis appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary andother means of establishing communications links between computingsystem 100 and remote users may be used.

It is appreciated that exemplary computing system 100 is merelyillustrative of a computing environment in which the herein describedsystems and methods may operate and does not limit the implementation ofthe herein described systems and methods in computing environmentshaving differing components and configurations, as the inventiveconcepts described herein may be implemented in various computingenvironments using various components and configurations.

As shown in FIG. 2, computing system 100 can be deployed in networkedcomputing environment 200. In general, the above description forcomputing system 100 applies to server, client, and peer computersdeployed in a networked environment, for example, server 205, laptopcomputer 210, and desktop computer 230. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplaryillustrative networked computing environment 200, with a server incommunication with client computing and/or communicating devices via acommunications network, in which the herein described apparatus andmethods may be employed.

As shown in FIG. 2, server 205 may be interconnected via acommunications network 240 (which may include any of, or any combinationof, a fixed-wire or wireless LAN, WAN, intranet, extranet, peer-to-peernetwork, virtual private network, the Internet, or other communicationsnetwork such as POTS, ISDN, VoIP, PSTN, etc.) with a number of clientcomputing/communication devices such as laptop computer 210, wirelessmobile telephone 215, wired telephone 220, personal digital assistant225, user desktop computer 230, and/or other communication enableddevices (not shown). Server 205 can comprise dedicated servers operableto process and communicate data such as digital content 250 to and fromclient devices 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, etc. using any of a number ofknown protocols, such as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), filetransfer protocol (FTP), simple object access protocol (SOAP), wirelessapplication protocol (WAP), or the like. Additionally, networkedcomputing environment 200 can utilize various data security protocolssuch as secured socket layer (SSL), pretty good privacy (PGP), virtualprivate network (VPN) security, or the like. Each client device 210,215, 220, 225, 230, etc. can be equipped with an operating systemoperable to support one or more computing and/or communicationapplications, such as a web browser (not shown), email (not shown), orthe like, to interact with server 205.

The present invention provides an engagement platform, i.e., theafore-discussed MEG, which may enable the delivery of out-of-the-box“app”-like experiences and analytics across mobile devices and digitalchannels. The MEG may be API driven and may include pluggable constructswhich may dynamically interact with third party content and/or websites.

The MEG may be implemented in the computing and networked environment,and across the devices using the one or more processing systemsdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2. MEG may employ any numberof the aforementioned MEG rules indicated by computing code stored incomputing memory and executed by one or more computing processors, whichrules may be statically employed against a particular variable ordynamically employed based on a particular variable. In short, rules mayinclude any decision-based direction.

Apps, and particularly MEG Apps, utilized within the present inventionmay be built via a set of services and may be created via an open API,for example, which may also allow third parties access to applicationbuild functionality and/or to previously built apps or app templates.These apps may be thereafter managed using a MEG manager, as discussedabove. As may be appreciated by those skilled in the art, apps may berelated to any number of service and/or goods offering, such as, forexample, a simple photo contest, or a more complex customer serviceexperience that may interact with a third party enterprise system. Appsmay be available to end users/consumers of the present invention throughthe aforementioned app store, or via direct download, for example.

MEG may further enable non-technical end users of a platform toconfigure and deploy MEG apps, such as in a range of a matter ofminutes, through a particular administrative control panel integratedwith the MEG manager. Apps may be deployed to the mobile web, and/or inpages thereof, and into, for example, the channels discussed above, viathe containers and through the explicit MEG rules. Applications, as wellas the rules to which apps are subject and containers in which appsreside, may be deployed to a website via a line or lines of JavaScript,or via an API call to another platform or system, or through a directlink that can be posted into any social network or other digitalchannel. Accordingly, apps may “spring”, such as via the aforementionedlauncher, and may be updated in real time once they are live, such asusing the MEG manager.

In some embodiments, the present invention comprises one or more of theafore-discussed containers that may be capable of storing informationwhich may be used and accessed by a user. In some embodiments, theinformation may be in the form of an app which may be launched via thelauncher, or may be a file which includes information about an itemoffered for sale by a third party commerce provider, for example. Inother embodiments, a file within a container may include records thathave various attributes capable of being actionable or linked toexternal content (such as content residing on a third party system).Each container may be capable not only of interfacing with third partywebsites, but may contain logic that enables the container to performcertain actions with respect to the files contained in the container.

Further, each file may include logic associated therewith that enablesactions to be performed with respect to the item represented by thefile. In an embodiment of the present invention, MEG may compriseshopping cart functions enabling a user to continue to transactelectronic commerce with respect to a third party offering, for example,and may allow for the use of user specific payment details withoutdirect interaction with the third party site shopping cart functionalityby the user. In this way, MEG may be used to simplify the informationexchange necessary in ecommerce transactions and may allow for tightercontrol by the user over sensitive financial-based information.

In certain embodiments, depending on the type of container utilized,different actions may be performed with respect to the items included inthe container or with respect to items not yet included in thecontainer. For example, items listed on any website or app may be addedto one or more containers through functionality such as drag-and-drop orbuttons. When an item is added to a container, logic in the containermay cause portions of the container to interface with the website or appon which the item was listed to extract or retrieve data (includingmetadata) related to the item. This data may be used to populate theinformation corresponding to the item.

Containers may be the launch pad by which applications are deployed. Acontainer, depending on its form factor, may house multiple applicationson one page, and may enable different applications to be deployed bydifferent rules on the same page or on different pages. A container, forexample, may provide a flexible user experience that enables thedeployment of applications and channel based notifications to end users.A container may act as an overlay onto any channel, regardless oftechnical specifications with applications being visible to consumersvia the container. Depending on deployment rules, for example, differentconsumers may see different applications visible on the same page.Similarly, at least two channels may be associated together to providemultichannel access on at least one, and preferably, a plurality ofdevices.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a user having a mobile device 301 may beinterconnected with portions of an exemplary MEG ecosystem 300 withaccess to a MEG platform 320 having at least one MEG 330. As discussedabove, the MEG platform 320 may include a database 321 suitable forstoring information related to users, for example. Containers may becreated through the container creation engine 340 and may be associatedwith at least one rule from the rules engine 322. Although the MEGplatform 320 may be remote from a user, a third party site 310 may belinked or have integral therewith at least one MEG platform 320.

Applications may be deployed via a set of automated rules that may beconfigured by users of the platform which may be executed by the rulesengine 322. Rules may be container based, time based, location based,device based, and/or based on user attributes. Such user attributes mayinclude, for example, demographics, use-based statistics, such as,purchasing history, site visit times, and pages viewed, for example,social interactions between users, and/or site memberships. As would beappreciated by those skilled in the art, any number of logic parametersmay be deployed as rules and may be static and/or dynamically related.

By way of non-limiting example only, exemplary rules for anapp/container may: 1) deploy the application via a notification 5seconds after the consumer has opened the webpage; 2) only show app inthe container to consumers that are on an iPhone®; 3) only show the appin the container to consumers that have their language set to Spanish;4) only show the app in the container to consumers that check-in to aPhiladelphia store location; 5) only show the app in the container toconsumers that are viewing a specific product on one of our channels(website, iOS, Android, Facebook); 6) automatically deploy theapplication as an overlay on top of our channel as soon as the consumeropens our products page (or other designated page); 7) only show the appduring a defined date range; 8) only show the app when an app consumerhas walked to the middle of an isle and picked up the toothpaste boxwithin our store; 9) automatically show different apps to consumers thatfall within different age ranges based on different behaviors andactions. Similarly, for example, a promotional item may be presented foronly a single short period of time to create exclusivity and/orscarcity. For example, an ad for 50% off a particular brand of cosmeticsat a beauty counter in a mall store may be presented to a user and/oronly redeemable for a short duration of time, such as for less than 5min, for example.

MEG apps and containers may also have analytics systems associated withthem. For example, end uses of the platform may view and export detailedusage metrics for their containers and applications from the platform.In this way, the access to information by a user and the success ofoffers and the organization of information may be reviewed and optimizedto enhance the experience for the user and/or to improve use of the MEGby the user. Referring again to FIG. 3, the MEG platform 320 may collectand store such data in database 321 which may further be available foruse by other containers and other third party sites 310. In anembodiment of the present invention, a profile may be established foreach user and may record the behavior and attributes of the user and theuser's device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, information showing varioususe activities and metrics may be provided and may be modified andmanipulated by a user. Broadly, the information presented may includethe tracking of interactions between at least one user and a MEG and/orapp, for example. Tracked interactions may include click-throughs,touches, views, and/or other interactions capable of being tracked by aparticular device. For example, as would be appreciated by those skilledin the art, various device capabilities, such as eye-tracking/sensing,may be employed with the present invention to provide and/or augment thetracked attributes. The tracked attributes may be filtered by devicetype, time interval, for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, a MEG 410 may be deployed on a third partywebsite, such as a clothing retailer, and may be in the form of an iconor launcher and may further include the trademark or other insignia ofthe third party website owner. In a mobile environment, as illustrated,the MEG icon may be presented in any portion of the viewable window andmay be moved by the user to any other viewable location. The MEG iconmay also have associated therewith at least one alert feature, such as,as illustrated, an extension of the icon having a notation illustrativeof the number of alerts available to the user.

Although illustrated as resident in the lower left corner of thepresented web site, the MEG 410 in application is an overlay and may bemoved anywhere within the viewable space by the user so as to allow forcustomization of placement and access to the full overlaid site withoutminimizing the MEG, such as illustrated in FIG. 17, for example. The MEG410 may include a minimize/shut down functionality and may include suchfunctionality as a scalable and/or selectable menu item as discussed ingreater detail herein below and as illustrated in FIG. 4G, for example.

For example, as further illustrated in FIG. 4A, the MEG 410 may alsoinclude an “alert” feature which may present itself as, for example, avisually different portion indicative of at least one new and/oradditional piece of information associated with the MEG 410. Activationof the alert associated with the MEG icon may present the user with theinformation associated with the alert which may, for example, compriseinformation surrounding a coupon associated with the third partywebsite. Such information may lead the user to the actual coupon, asillustrated in FIG. 5A, which may be delivered via a subset of rules asdiscussed herein. In this exemplary embodiment, the coupon may bedelivered to the user based on the number of site visits to theparticular clothing retailer site and may have the value of the couponbased on the type of device used to access the site. For example, and asillustrated in FIG. 5B, a user of an iPhone may be presented a couponworth thirty (30%) percent off, while a DOS-based desktop user may bepresented a coupon worth ten (10%) percent off.

Referring now again to FIGS. 4B-4H, a published container may containany number of apps and/or menu/link items. In addition to apps andsocial network links, a container may also contain code allowing forsuch things as calendar invites and the like. Once selected andlaunched, as illustrated in FIG. 4D, a meeting invite may be viewedand/or added to a user's device through a compatible app. This exemplaryuse of the present invention demonstrates the flexibility in design andinformation dissemination possible through the use of such containers.

Similarly, aspects of the coupon may be dynamically changed, such as thevalue of the coupon, the type of coupon offered, the redeemablelocations, and/or the expiration of the coupon, for example, which mayallow for periodic and/or user-based optimization of the offered coupon.For example, the location of the user when offered and/or accessing thecoupon may trigger a location-based rule wherein the coupon isredeemable only in a store closest to the user for which the targetgoods/services may be purchased. In such an embodiment, the location ofthe user may be obtained by traditional GPS methods, the use of localWiFi triangulation, and/or through location identifiers, such as the useof NFC tag technology, for example. Similarly, the demand for a certainproduct/service may alter the coupon tendered.

The use of a MEG may also perform and/or augment the channel in which itmay be associated and may provide more efficient access to certainfeatures either desired by the user and/or desired by the web siteoperator to be given greater prominence. As illustrated FIGS. 6A-F, asports team may utilize a MEG to highlight various ancillary portions ofinformation and offerings related to the team. As illustrated in FIG.6B, and as discussed above, an alert may be provided with the MEG tobring to the user's attention the location of the MEG and/or that newand/or additional information is associated with the MEG, for example.Similarly, interaction with the MEG may provide at least one informationmessage, as illustrated in FIG. 6C, which may, for example, provide anew user with instruction on how to interact with the MEG, providereal-time information related to the content of the apps associated withthe MEG, and/or provide an additional interaction for the collection ofinformation and/or for additional functionality.

As illustrated in FIG. 6D, interaction with the MEG may provide a menuto allow for the selection of information and/or other In an embodimentof the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 6E, when selected bythe user, the MEG may provide a menu of additional features, which inthis example may allow the user to “follow” the team over various socialmedia accounts with a single selection within the MEG provided menu,share the website and/or MEG with a third party, communicate with theteam, review the team's schedule, and/or engage the team's commercesite, for example. Clicking on or otherwise selecting a particular menuitem (or the MEG icon itself) may present the user with a full view ofadditional information as illustrated in FIGS. 6F and 6J, for example.Such a presentation of information and/or interaction may be provided asan overlay or, for example, a new window. The MEG may also presentinformation within the relative size parameters offered by the devicewhich it is resident, such as illustrated in FIGS. 6G-61.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6A-F, the selection by the user to visit theabove described team's commerce site through selection of a MEG menuitem may bring a user to a customized page within the commerce site. Forexample, in accordance with various user attributes, a particulardiscount and/or item(s) may be offered to the user to increase thepotential for the purchase of a good/service by the user. Such userattributes may comprise, for example, the number of visits the user hasmade to the team's site, past purchase history from the team and/orother sports related purchases (to the extent such information isavailable for collection by the present invention), and/or the previousviewing activity conducted by the user in relation to the team'scommerce site.

As discussed herein, the dynamic or intelligent delivery of content bythe present invention may be initiated across single or multiple levelsand may be responsive to multiples of user attributes, sitecharacteristics, and/or administratively defined parameters. Forexample, an administrator of a MEG container, for example, may associateat least one app and further associate at least one deployment rule tocontrol the use of the container. By way of further example, the MEGcontainer may contain two apps, one tailored towards an English speakingaudience and one tailored towards a Spanish speaking audience. Adeployment rule may launch either app based on user or deviceinformation related to whether the user is more likely to speak Englishor Spanish. For example, the MEG may access the phone settings whereSpanish may be chosen by the user as the preferred language. Similarly,the deployment rule may prompt the user to input which language ispreferred.

In an embodiment of the present invention, deployment rules may also beused to prompt events based on user activity and may track userinteractions with a particular web site and/or through all interactionswith a browser once the MEG is launched and/or is active. For example,if a user is viewing a site such as a automobile manufacturer for adefined period of time (such as 5 minutes) or over a defined number ofpages within the site (such as three), an intelligent rule may launch anapp providing to the user information related to the purchase of theviewed automobiles, such as, for example, the location of the closestdealership and/or offers for sale and/or coupons associated with theviewed product.

In an embodiment of the present invention, and as illustrated in FIGS.7A-C, a user interface may be provided to allow a user to select a setof rules to be implemented, where those rules should be applied, and howthose rules should be carried out. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, a user maydefine the channels for distribution which may comprise, for example, awebsite, at least one social network, a specific operating system, andlocation-based sites. A user may also select when an app or channel maybe presented or active, such as using rules illustrated in FIG. 7B. Anapp may be always active, active over a specific date and/or time range,and a combination thereof, for example. Finally, the providing of theapp may be dictated by a user and, as discussed above, an app may or maynot be launched automatically, and/or may be brought to the attention ofa user through an alert and/or notification. As illustrated in FIG. 7C,for example, the app may be selected to be included and/or excluded fromspecific websites/pages/URLs, may be shared on social media, included ins business app (discussed in more detail herein), and/or launched vialocation-based services and/or a beacon, for example.

A beacon deployment consists of one or more beacon devices that transmittheir own unique identification number to a local area. Software on areceiving device may then look up the beacon and perform variousfunctions, such as notifying the user of a MEG app, for example.Receiving devices may also connect to a beacon to retrieve values from abeacon's GATT (generic attribute profile) service. A beacon's region ofmonitoring may be limited to 20 regions and may function in thebackground (of the listening device) and may have various delegates tonotify at least one listening app (and user) of entry/exit in theregion—even if app is in the background or phone is locked.

As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the distancebetween a transmitting beacon and at least one receiving device may becategorized into three distinct ranges: immediate (within a fewcentimeters); near (within a couple of meters); and far (greater than 10meters away). The maximum range of a beacon transmission may depend onthe location and placement, obstructions in the environment and wherethe device is being stored. Standard beacons have an approximate rangeof 70 meters while long range beacons may reach up to 450 meters. Absenta beacon, the present invention may provide a QR code, for example, forphysical display by a user, such as, for example, a merchant.

In an embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 8, thepresent invention may provide for the set-up and control over beaconsfor which an app is authorized to interface. For example, a user maywish to deliver an alert to a sale within a store to potential customerspassing by on the street/sidewalk outside of the store—but not otherwisedisturb them once inside. Similarly, beacons may be configured todeliver to a customer a coupon when the potential customer is in aparticular isle of a store and/or is near to a particular product forwhich a beacon and/or other local device, such as an NFC tag, forexample, is resident.

Similarly, apps and/or information may be delivered and/or madeavailable to a user based on prior viewing by the user. Continuing withthe prior example, if the same user next visited a classified ads site,an ad may be delivered referring to the sale of used automobiles, forexample. Similarly, the classified ads site may use the prior visitationinformation to filter and present to the user classified ads related tothe sale of automobiles. Such rules may also work in related to socialnetworks, such as Facebook for example, where an app may be launched ifthe user was directed to the site through a Facebook link.

Deployment rules may also control the content available through a MEGbased on the per page views within a particular website. In this way,the apps and/or menu selection may be further modified in accordancewith the position of the user within the website. For example, the usermay have navigated to the commerce page of a particular website and mayno longer need access information delivered through the MEG. A moreefficient delivery of information may include changing the presentedmenu through the MEG to include non-duplicative information and/oradditional details regarding the purchase of a particular good and/orinformation related to the availability of a coupon, for example.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the use of a MEG within amobile environment wherein the user is located in close proximity to ahigh number of merchants, such as in a mall environment, may provide theuser with information regarding specific buying opportunities and mayprovide at least one purveyor of goods information about the user. In anembodiment of the present invention, a MEG may be associated with a website or an iOS or Android app dedicated to the mall and may provideinformation about the stores and provide access to the apps associatedwith the various stores. Similarly, in the same fashion as discussedabove, promotions may be launched and/or brought to the user's attentionthrough an alert, such as through a beacon, as discussed above.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a local store may launch aMEG App on the user's mobile device once the user is within or proximateto the retailer's store. As discussed above, GPS and other locationservices may identify mobile device in sufficient proximity to push tothe device at least one MEG App. Similarly, a user may be on thewebsite/mobile site of the store retailer and may have a MEG App and/oran alert launched when entering the store to inform the user of specialand available merchandise and services. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the location/identification of a mobile device within a storemay be obtained through local WiFi/Bluetooth provided by the store (eachallowing for a controlled range of reception) and/or through the use ofRF devices placed throughout the store, such as NFC tags, for example.In this way, passive and/or active tags may be accessed and may, forexample, point the browser of a user device to the store's websiteand/or designated container.

Such a locally delivered MEG may allow the store to receive real-timeshopper analytics while providing for the delivery of information and/orinstant coupons to the user's device. For example, a user who enters thestore and is pinged by an active NFC tag to accept a local MEG may beprovided a customized coupon based on the location of the user withinthe store to optimize the purchasing opportunity. Thus, for example, theidentification of a user in women's shoes may prompt the launch of atleast one ad/coupon for a specific type of boot—with such coupon beingavailable for redemption for a defined period of time and/or until theuser leaves the store.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, for example, the tracking of analytics maycomprise tracks view and/or click over a defined period of time. Thedata may be filtered by device and may, for example, allow the user tocalculate a success rate to optimize interactions and/or click-throughs.Information related to MEG usage may also be presented as illustrated inFIG. 10, for example, wherein the app views/interactions and averagetime for the same may be calculated. Similarly, the tracking of channelsand app deployments may also be provided to facilitate more effectiveusage with ad campaigns, for example. Targeting demographics, forexample, and/or locations may provide for a higher view/interaction ratewith a deployed app. As illustrated in FIG. 11, for example, the presentinvention may provide targeting and/or real-time information which mayallow for real-time targeting of apps. Such information, coupled withthe use of local beacons, preferably at least one network of beacons,may allow for the targeting of apps and/or channels with a high degreeof views/interactions, such as, for example, over 30%.

The analytics described herein may also provide for engagement bychannel and may measure interaction rates with delivered apps, forexample. A typical measurement may indicate the following percentage ofinteraction/redemption, by way of non-limiting example only: 10% ofdelivered coupons redeemed instate; 30% of delivered coupons interactedwith through native app; 15% of delivered coupons interacted withthrough Facebook; and/or 50% of delivered coupons interacted withthrough a third-party website. Using such information, a user mayconfigure rules related to at least one channel to improve acceptanceof.

The MEG platform 320 may also include, as illustrated in FIG. 12, adeveloper platform for creating containers which may be deployed asdiscussed above. Apps may be selected from a list and add to a containerby simply dragging and dropping and available app into a MEG associatedwith a channel. In this way, a user may quickly build functionality intoa native app through auto-update functionality provided by the presentinvention. Similarly, attributes for each app, such as an associationwith one or more beacons, may be created as well. For example, an appmay be associated with a beacon proximate to a prominent painting in amuseum which may allow for the deliverance of information to a user inproximity to the painting. Such an association of a MEG, channel, and/orapp may be done is real time and may be updated to provide the mostcurrent information possible.

As further illustrated in FIG. 13A, for example, a container type mayalso be chosen. A published container may also be tracked and may storeanalytics, as discussed above, for use by the creator of the container,for example. A user may also publish the created container and may bepresented with javascript, as illustrated in FIG. 13B, for example,which may be embedded in the desired site location. The presentinvention may also generate a QR code or other identifier for use by theuser.

As discussed herein, a container may be populated with apps from withinor exported into the present invention. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the combination of MEGs, containers, and/or apps creates anopen API for users to quickly and simply create and distributefunctional apps for use with third parties, in particular, targetconsumers. As illustrated in FIGS. 14-16, the present invention allowsfor the selection of apps related to social network feeds, apps capableof soliciting feedback; and apps providing an open platform of the useof third-party generated HTML and like code, for example. The presentinvention also provides at least one portion of anchor code which may beplaced in a website to allow for the publication of at least one MEG tothat website. In this way, the MEG may facilitate the running of anycode within the MEG environment on the third party website and allow forcross-platform apps, providing the creator of such apps great efficiencywhen deploying and app to a set of users having unknown device types.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the herein describedsystems and methods may be subject to various modifications andalternative constructions. There is no intention to limit the scope ofthe invention to the specific constructions described herein. Rather,the herein described systems and methods are intended to cover allmodifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling withinthe scope and spirit of the invention and its equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A media entertainment gateway for launching oneor more mobile applications upon a page, the gateway comprising: anon-transitory storage medium having a computer program stored thereon,the computer program comprising computer-program code that when executedby a processor are configured to implement: querying at least onecontainer comprising a plurality of architecturally-developedapplications, wherein at least one of the applications comprises amobile application and is suitable for delivery on, and is contextrelevant to, a then-resident page in accordance with at least one of aplurality of rules; selecting at least one of the at least oneapplications and providing upon, but un-embedded in, the then-residentpage; tracking and reporting interactions with, and analytics regardinginteractions with, the selected at least one application.
 2. The gatewayof claim 1, wherein the plurality of rules are comprised of at least oneof container based, time based, location based, device based, and userbehavior based rules.
 3. The gateway of claim 1, wherein an iconindicative of the mobile application is displayed as an overlay relativeto the page.
 4. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the page is accessiblethrough at least one beacon.
 5. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the atleast one application is self-launching.
 6. The gateway of claim 1,wherein at least one URL resident in the at least one application isdirected to a non-resident website.
 7. The gateway of claim 1, whereinthe at least one application comprises a graphical user interface.
 8. Anon-transitory storage medium having a computer program stored thereon,the computer program comprising computer-program code for causing asuitably configured computing system to perform the following when thecomputer program is executed on the system: querying at least onecontainer comprising a plurality of architecturally-developedapplications, wherein at least one of the applications comprises amobile application and is suitable for delivery on, and is contextrelevant to, a then-resident page in accordance with at least one of aplurality of rules; selecting at least one of the at least oneapplications and providing upon, but un-embedded in, the then-residentpage; tracking and reporting interactions with, and analytics regardinginteractions with, the selected at least one application.
 9. The systemof claim 8, wherein the plurality of rules are comprised of at least oneof container based, time based, location based, device based, and userbehavior based rules.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein an iconindicative of the mobile application is displayed as an overlay relativeto the page.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the page is accessiblethrough at least one beacon.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the atleast one application is self-launching.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein at least one URL resident in the at least one application isdirected to a non-resident website.
 14. The system of claim 8, whereinthe at least one application comprises a graphical user interface.
 15. Amethod for or providing a media engagement gateway for providingapplication and analytic services across diverse operating platforms,the method comprising: querying at least one container comprising aplurality of architecturally-developed applications, wherein at leastone of the applications comprises a mobile application and is suitablefor delivery on, and is context relevant to, a then-resident page inaccordance with at least one of a plurality of rules; selecting at leastone of the at least one applications and providing upon, but un-embeddedin, the then-resident page; tracking and reporting interactions with,and analytics regarding interactions with, the selected at least oneapplication.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of rulesare comprised of at least one of container based, time based, locationbased, device based, and user behavior based rules.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein an icon indicative of the mobile application isdisplayed as an overlay relative to the page.
 18. The method of claim15, wherein the page is accessible through at least one beacon.
 19. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the at least one application isself-launching.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one URLresident in the at least one application is directed to a non-residentwebsite.